The Censorship of Huckelberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckelberry Finn has been called one of the greatest pieces of American literature, deemed a classic. The book has been used by teachers across the country for years. Now, Huck Finn, along with other remarkable novels such as Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird, are being pulled off the shelves of libraries and banned from classrooms. All the glory this majestic piece by Mark Twain has acquired is slowly being deteriorated. This is occurring because some say it does not meet “today’s” politically correct standards. This is an immense disturbance to all who have read and cherished Huckelberry Finn and know this work’s true meaning.

Censorship, as defined in the dictionary, is, in the case of a book, to take out things thought to be objectionable. Censorship is far more than that. This mere word prohibits us from all things branded with its mark. In this instance of The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn, it takes away an American treasure, and more importantly, defies First Amendment rights. Those who find Huck Finn distasteful and unappropriate are trying to brand this work, by censorship, and make it unjust to read. This is similar to a farmer trying to brand his mark upon a bull, with those against Huck Finn as the farmers and Huckelberry Finn is the bull. As most know the bull never goes down without a fight and won’t allow thje farmer to branded, just as the supporters of Huckelberry Finn will not just be taken down passively. The main reason Huckelberry Finn is being subjected to such scrutiny is because of the way Twain portrayed “nigger” Jim, and his use of the racial slur.

The Anti-Huckelberry Finn feel that it is to uncomfortable for African-Americans to read the book and think they are being stereotyped into Jim’s image. Though some find it wrong for this American treasure to remain available

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...Censorship and the Importance of Accurate Historical Sources
Mark Twain's classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been criticized since the day it was released. A library in Concord MA banned the book only a month after it was put into print and other libraries and schools have followed suit (Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not the only story to be widely banned, but it is one of the most controversial and well known. Many people claim that the novel is racist due to the frequent use of racial slurs and the disrespect and mistreatment of the character Jim who is a runaway slave. Mark Twain's famous novel is not a racist text because it is a historical account of the south during the 1840s, when racism was commonplace. The book's purpose was to emphasize real life and mock the faults in human nature.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy named Huckleberry Finn runs away from his life and travels down the Mississippi River with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. The story follows Huck's moral growth and maturity throughout his many adventures and experiences. The major turning point of the book is when Huck realizes that Jim cares about him, and that he cares about Jim in return. As a child, Huck is taught that Jim isn't a person because of his skin color and that he does not deserve...

..."I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead" (221). Mark Twain's, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," is a tale about a boy in search for a family and a place he can truly call home. Through his adventure, he rids himself of a father that is deemed despicable by society, and he gains a father that society hasn't even deemed as a man. This lonely and depressed young boy only finds true happiness when he is befriended with a slave named Jim. Although HuckFinn was born and raised into a racially oppressive society, it is through his personal growth that he realizes that the color of skin does not make a man, and he finds a father and true happiness in Jim.
Disparity and loneliness are the tones that Twain quickly sets for his character HuckFinn. Twain makes Huck's isolation from society apparent for the reader immediately through a comment made from a respectable and pious woman, Widow Douglas, who has brought Huck to live with her in her home. "The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son [ ]. And called me a poor lost lamb" (220). Although Huck has a safe and pleasant place to stay with the Widow, he is still truly lonely as he describes his yearnings for death. "I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead" (221). Twain continues to show this tone of disparity as Huck unconsciously relates many things around him to death, and continues to tell...

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Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain concentrates on Jim and how Southern society treats him. From the beginning, Twain uses Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer to represent the South as they escape Huck’s house and belittle Jim by hanging his “hat off of his head” (19). The boys toy with Jim because the society that they grow up in says that they are better than him because he is black, and they are white. Despite this initial representation of Southern society, Huck does not portray the South most of the book. Jim does though signify black society the majority of the book. When Huck and Jim go on their journey together, they endure a series of odd occurrences, and Twain uses these occurrences to criticize the South and depict Jim as more than the South’s stereotype for a black man. Twain emphasizes the South’s black stereotype and Jim’s characteristics in order to criticize the South.
The South’s black stereotype consists of two main ideas. The first idea that Twain uses is superstition. Twain illustrates the black stereotype of superstition in Jim’s having a hair-ball that tells him what to do.
“Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with it. He said there was a spirit inside of it, and it knowed everything” (29).
Jim’s superstition here suggests that all black people have this same superstition. Twain uses...

...September 2013
Huck Finn’s Moral Development
“The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is a classic novel written by Mark Twain. The story tells of a young man HuckFinn and his friend Jim, a slave, starting an adventure toward the freedom of Jim. The adventure is not only full with excitement, but also full of moral for Huck to learn. In the beginning of the book, Huck is wild and careless. He plays jokes and tricks on people and believed that is was hilarious. As the story goes on, Huck starts to change into a more mature and caring person.
Everything started with Huck’s father returning back to his life again. Huck knew that his father came back in search of Huck’s wealth, which later taken by his father for alcohol. His father eventually locked Huck inside a cabin to seize more control over Huck. His father was a rough abusive alcoholic, and Huck decided for himself that it would be best for Pap’s influence not to be present in his life. This is the first big step in Huck’s moral development because Huck is now able to think wisely for himself and be able to justify what is right or wrong.
Another very important even that influenced Huck’s moral development happened in chapter 15. Huck and Jim were separated by a thick fog. Jim was found by Huck the next morning and was told...

...﻿Jake Pries
Mrs. D
English 3
29 January 2014
The south in the 1800’s became a messed up society because of the culture of slavery. The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn portrays a story about a young boy named HuckFinn who is trying to escape society. Huck and Jim go on an adventure for to be enlightened and for freedom. They both want to become free from their homes, and Jim also has to earn money to support his family.HuckFinn runs into many different problems and people that show a variety of symbols that show the way of life in the south. The symbols in this novel that are shown throughout the story are racism and freedom, because it represents the way of life in the south during the 1800’s.
Tom represents a part of the southern society because he is a wild, free from authority, and uneducated with absurd ideas. “Now, we’ll start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer’s Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood.” (Tom 19) Tom’s gang is with the boys from his neighborhood, like his friend Huck. Tom is the leader of the clan and they listen to his commands. His gang shows Tom’s crazy ideas and his wildness. Tom’s free will to do whatever he wants is the cause of his outspoken abruptness. “Ben, I’d like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; Sid wanted to do it...

...morality. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain. This book is very controversial and has even be deemed immoral by some members of society. One particular character that some have said is immoral is HuckFinn. But is he? In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the character of Huck can be seen as a moral person who grows through his actions and experiences both on land and in the river, even though his actions might go against the set standards of society.
Huck is a moral person at the beginning of the novel before he begins his journey on the river. The character of Huck can be seen as subdued in the beginning of the novel. Huck has not let out his true self and it is important to understand this point that Mark Twain tries to get across. This is so important because at this point Huck is conforming to society and following all the standards and guidelines which it has set. The moral correctness of his actions are not questionable. The character who represents society and its views is Widow Douglas, and it is to her that Huck conforms. While on land at the
beginning Huck is taken captive by Pap, his estranged father. Huck then starts to see another side of society. When Huck is captured by Pap he is upset because he does not like his...

...Maturity
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, HuckFinn starts down his path to maturity when he fakes his death and travels down the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave. As the story progresses, Huck encounters tough decisions that he must make that requires him to grow up quickly. When he first meets up with Jim, he realizes the importance of keeping his word and the effect his words can have on the lives of others. After he reunites with Jim when they lose each other in fog, Huck understands he must take responsibility for his actions and stand behind them. While spending time with Jim, Huck soon learns that blacks are, in fact, not very different from whites and he begins to think for himself. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain describes Huck’s journey from a young child into a mature adolescent.
As Huck’s adventure begins, the reader encounters Huck’s first advancement towards maturity when he understands the importance of keeping his word. When Huck finds Jim on Jackson’s Island, they start talking about how they both happened upon the island. While Huck explains how he faked his death, Jim prepares to tell him about his own escape when he makes Huck promise not to tell anyone. Huck promises not to, and Jim proceeds to tell him that he ran away. Jim’s...

...people living there, convincing them of the humanity of slavery. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of HuckFinn, a young redneck boy, who finds friendship in a runaway slave named Jim, despite his own racist background. Though Huck and Jim bond throughout their journey, Huck struggles to overcome the way he was raised and see Jim as a person capable of feelings and emotions. Throughout his journey down the Mississippi, Huck is faced with challenges where he must decide Jim’s fate, but as his bond with Jim grows stronger, he begins to unlearn the racist views he was taught. He begins to mature and follow his heart when he apologizes to Jim, decides not to turn him in, and when he finally has the epiphany that he would rather rot in Hell than turn in his best friend.
Huck, who grew up playing tricks on others with Tom Sawyer, realizes for the first time that African-American slaves are capable of feeling pain, and he learns that true friends do not try to hurt each other. After being separated from Jim all night in the fog, Huck finally finds him asleep on the raft, and he decides that it would be funny to play a trick on the less intelligent man. After making up a story and trying to convince Jim that the entire night was just a dream, Huck jokingly comes clean and tells Jim the truth, but he does not expect Jim’s...